Books

THE SUMMER WE RAN AWAY – Coming Summer 2020

Julia’s perfect life is in crisis. As well as trying to manage crippling debt and house-renovations with her reluctant husband, leaning-in at work, dealing with Imposter Syndrome with her friends, and her family… Her most humiliating, and destructive, secrets have been WhatsApp’d to the entire Cedar Lane WhatsApp Group!

Julia is horror-struck as the little blue ticks appear on the Whatsapp message. When all the neighbours know exactly what you’re thinking, there’s only one thing to do. Run away. It’s a summer that she’ll never forget…

THE HOUSE WE CALLED HOME

One family brought together at their beautiful but remote childhood home when their father goes missing.

The house where Stella and her sister Amy grew up never changes – the red front door, the breath-taking view over the Cornish coast, her parents in their usual spots on the sofa. Except this summer, things feel a little different…

Stella’s father is nowhere to be seen, yet her mother – in suspiciously new Per Una jeans – seems curiously unfazed by his absence, and more eager to talk about her mysterious dog-walking buddy Mitch.

Stella’s sister Amy has returned home with a new boyfriend she can barely stand and a secret to hide, and Stella’s husband Jack has something he wants to get off his chest too. Even Frank Sinatra, the dog, has a guilty air about him.

This summer, change is in the air for the Whitethorns…

Warm, funny and gloriously feel-good, this is the perfect summer read for fans of Veronica Henry and Milly Johnson.

THE SUMMERHOUSE BY THE SEA

A beautiful, summer story about returning to your past and finding a new beginning!

Every Summer has its own story…

For Ava Fisher, the backdrop to all her sun-drenched memories – from her first taste of chocolate-dipped churros to her very first kiss – is her grandmother’s Summerhouse in the sleepy Spanish seaside town of Mariposa.

Returning for one last summer, Ava throws herself into a project her grandmother would be proud of. Café Estrella – once the heart of the sleepy seaside village – now feels more ramshackle than rustic. Just like Ava, it seems it has lost its sparkle.

Away from the exhausting juggle of London life, Ava realises somehow her life has stopped being…happy. But being back at the Summerhouse by the sea could be the new beginning she didn’t even realise she needed…

‘A perfect holiday read.’ – The Sun

The Summerhouse by the Sea is available from all good book and eBook stores

THE PARISIAN CHRISTMAS BAKE OFF

Welcome to the most celebrated patisserie competition in Paris – ready, steady, bake!

Watching snowflakes settle on the Eiffel Tower, Rachel Smithson’s cosy English village feels very far way – as, thankfully, does her commitment-phobic ex, probably already kissing someone else under the mistletoe. But Rachel hasn’t come to Paris to mope she’s come to bake. Hard.

Because the search for Paris’s next patisserie apprentice is about to begin! And super-chef judge Henri Salernes is an infamously tough cookie. But Rachel isn’t about to let her confidence (or pastry) crumble. She’s got one week, mounds of melt-in-the-mouth macaroons and towers of perfect profiteroles to prove that she really is a star baker.

As well as clouds of flour, and wafts of chocolate and cinnamon, there’s definitely a touch of Christmas magic in the air… Rachel hasn’t come to Paris looking for a fairy-tale romance, but the city of love might gift-wrap her one anyway…

The Parisian Christmas Bake Off is available from all good eBook stores

THE VINTAGE SUMMER WEDDING

A Vera Wang dress, the reception at a sophisticated London venue, and a guest list that reads like a society gossip column are all the ingredients of Anna Whitehall’s perfect wedding that never was…

Spending the summer uncovering hidden treasures in a vintage shop, Anna can still vividly remember both her childhood dreams; the first was that she’d become a Prima Ballerina, and dance on stage resplendent in a jewel-encrusted tutu. The second was that at her wedding she would walk down the aisle wearing a collective-gasp-from-the-congregation dress.

Years ago Anna pirouetted out of her cosy hometown village in a whirl of ambition…but when both of those fairy-tale dreams came crashing down around her ballet shoes, she and fiancée Seb find themselves back in Nettleton, their wedding and careers postponed indefinitely…

Don’t they say that you can never go home again? Sometimes they don’t get it right… This one summer is showing Anna that your dreams have to grow up with you. And sometimes what you think you wanted is just the opposite of what makes you happy…

THE LITTLE CHRISTMAS KITCHEN

Christmas at the Davenports’ house was always about one thing: food!

But when sisters Ella and Maddy were split up, Ella to live in London with their Dad, and Maddy staying in Greece with their Mum, mince pies lost their magic.

Now, a cheating husband has thrown Ella a curved snowball…and for the first time in years, all she wants is her mum. So she heads back to Greece, where her family’s taverna holds all the promise of home. Meanwhile, waitress Maddy’s dreams of a white Christmas lead her back to London…and her Dad.

But a big fat festive life-swap isn’t as easy as it sounds! And as the sisters trade one kitchen for another, it suddenly seems that among the cinnamon, cranberries and icing sugar, their recipes for a perfect Christmas might be missing a crucial ingredient: each other.

The Cherry Pie Island series

Each part of Cherry Pie Island can be read and enjoyed as a standalone story – or as part of the series.

The Grand Reopening of Dandelion Café – Book 1

The Vintage Ice Cream Van Road Trip – Book 2

The Great Allotment Proposal – Book 3

One Summer Night at the Ritz – Book 4

Four Weddings and a White Christmas – Book 5

What people are saying about the Cherry Pie Island

‘It was lovely! As with all of Jenny’s books – the food descriptions were amazing – and she really evoked the feel of France‘ – This Price is Usually Right

‘This was such a feel good story. It was warm and atmospheric. I enjoyed reading about the steps Annie took to kind of reinvent herself. I look forward to the second instalment. Well done, Jenny! ‘ – Ailish’s Book Reviews

‘Jenny Oliver manages to get a lot of plot into a short book, but it never feels rushed or forced. I got swept away in the world of the island and was rooting for it all to turn out right in the end. And for Annie’s brother to end up getting a dunking in the sea!’ – Verity Reads Books

‘Everything about The Grand Reopening of Dandelion Cafe was pulling, tugging, and worthy of the arm-ache. Cherry Pie Island was atmospheric, full of that cosy feel that comes alongside family and memories and home-cooking, as well as yummy desserts! I adored watching Annie as she took the steps towards the reopening of the cafe, and not only that, but it was wonderful to watch her grow as a person and character, too.’ – Beccas Books

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8 thoughts on “Books”

Is the 5th book the last of the Cherry Pie island series ? Living very close to the Thames I can think of several place that would fit the bill. It would be nice to have one last book pulling them all together .😀

Thanks for getting in touch. Yes, the fifth book Four Weddings and a White Christmas is the last for the moment and ties up all the stories. However, I’m sure in the future I’ll take a trip back to Cherry Pie Island because it’s just so lovely to be there!

Have you considered adaptations to screenplays for your works? Everything is written with such vivid description that it would make for a director and production designer’s dream to work with and build from.

Hi Jenny – I’ve just finished reading The Parisian Christmas Bake Off after being given it by a friend, will you be doing a sequel to it at all? I thought it was brilliant and would love to know what happened next…..

Hi Mel, thanks for getting in touch. I’m so pleased you enjoyed Xmas Bake Off! There isn’t a sequel as such but Rachel and Philippe appear in The Vintage Summer Wedding. If you’re looking for more Xmas however there’s The Little Christmas Kitchen. But my personal fave is always the last book I’ve written which was The Summerhouse by the Sea! So many books… 😉
Jenny xx